


Freaks must stick together

by Laria124



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Naruto, Family, Gen, Humor, I gave in, It's also cute and fluffy, Naruto has less issues, Overprotective scary Jounins, Sasuke Has Issues, Sasuke is still a dick, Well this is it, also insane!Naruto, because Anko, but don't worry, cuteness !, fighting !, heavy sarcasm !, i wrote happy!Naruto, say goodbye to your sanity, there is action !
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 18:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6340828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laria124/pseuds/Laria124
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fun fact number one. When Anko heard the loud “look, it’s the freak!”, she thought that the guy meant her.<br/>But when she turned, she saw that the two teenagers were looking at a blond kid, cornered between them and a wall. They were laughing with childish cruelty on their faces and rocks in their hands, two cats playing with their prey. The prey was a boy not older than five, and he had eyes full of anger and sadness and fierceness, the eyes of someone who know he’s on his own and can’t win but can’t give up, because if you stop fighting you’ll break, and you’ll never give people that satisfaction.</p>
<p>Fun fact number two. Anko know that look. She sees it every time she walks past a mirror. </p>
<p>So instead of continue walking to her favorite dango shop, she went straight to those two jerks and growled: “what the fuck did you just say, dickhead?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>_____________________</p>
<p>Anko basically adopt Naruto. Ibiki is not sure it's a good idea. Gai is thrilled. Kakashi need an aspirin and a private place to yell a moment.</p>
<p>Naruto loves it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freaks must stick together

**Author's Note:**

> Yosh ! So, i'm trying writing in English again. Also, i wanted to try writing a AU for a while, so why not ?
> 
> This story is pretty short, but i hope it'll make you laugh. Stay tuned, maybe i'll write another chapter to cover the Shippuden part of the manga !

Mitarashi Anko wasn’t a popular kunoichi. Not now, not ever. She was Orochimaru’s student, the perpetual disappointment. Trained by a Sannin, but let her team get killed shortly after graduating the Chuunin exams. Trained by a Sannin, yet failed to see that he was turning traitor. Trained by a Sannin, but didn’t stop his madness.  
Trained by a Sannin, but didn’t follow him when he left.

She was mouthy and rude and boyish and vulgar. She was creepy, and worse, she was powerful. She was also too loud, too angry, too terrifying. People were scared of her and frankly, she completely understood them. Hell, her only friends were Morino Ibiki (talk about terrifying) and Maito Gai (because of his sheer tenacity bordering on insanity, a trait they shared). She wasn’t really close of any other Jounin, and civilians were terrified of her. Behind her back and even years after her sensei’s defection, they called her insane. Weird. A freak. Orochimaru’s failure. Pariah.  
But they didn’t dare to speak their mind out loud, cowards that they were. 

So, fun fact number one. When she heard the loud “look, it’s the freak!”, she thought that the guy meant her.  
But when she turned, she saw that the two teenagers were looking at a blond kid, cornered between them and a wall. They were laughing with childish cruelty on their faces and rocks in their hands, two cats playing with their prey. The prey was a boy not older than five, and he had eyes full of anger and sadness and fierceness, the eyes of someone who know he’s on his own and can’t win but can’t give up, because if you stop fighting you’ll break, and you’ll never give people that satisfaction.

Fun fact number two. Anko know that look. She sees it every time she walks past a mirror. 

So instead of continue walking to her favorite dango shop, she went straight to those two jerks and growled: “what _the fuck_ did you just say, dickhead?”

Both teenagers screamed and fled like she was going to set them on fire (it was still an option). She snorted, and then turned her eyes towards the blond boy who was staring at her in utter bewilderment. “You okay, kid?” she grunted.

She knew him. Of course she knew him, the Jinchuuriki, the kid with that damned fox sealed inside him. She usually avoided him, like everyone. Not because she was scared, but because she didn’t care. Why would she?  
But that damn kid was starring at her with stupefaction and something like wonder, still not saying a word, and she couldn’t remember the last time someone had ever watched her with such adoration. Probably never.

“You mute or what?” she scowled.

The kid jumped: “What? No!”

“Then answer when people talk to you, damn it! You okay?”

“Hum, yeah?” He didn’t really sound sure of himself, and was looking confused. “They didn’t have time to hit me this time, I’m fine.”

“This time?” repeated Anko.

Oh no, why did she ask him? Why did she care? It was such a bad idea. She was going to be emotionally invested in this kid, she knew it. She was going to feel responsible and then she’ll be screwed. Anko, my girl, you still have time to run…

“Yeah, they chase me in the village sometime. But I have to deal with them or else they follow me in the market and I can’t buy food so I really had to go and…”

Meh. She didn’t have anything interesting to do today anyway. 

“Next time punch them in the face”, she said with her most terrifying smile. “Or better, a kick in the nuts. Radical.”

The kid looked at her with wide eyes: “But they’re stronger!”

“Then get stronger than them”, scowled Anko. “Learn to throw a punch, get shurikens or kunais, make yourself look dangerous. Do you know how to hit someone?”

Again the kid looked at her with wonder. Anko could guess why. Nobody probably bothered to tell him how to protect himself. At best, people who didn’t ignore him told him he was just looking for trouble and that it was his fault if he was bullied.  
Ugh. It was barely thirty seconds and she was already too deep in this shit. 

“Come with me”, she ordered. “I’m headed to training ground anyway. I’m going to teach you how to punch jerks.”

“Really?!” squeaked the kid.

“Really”, said Anko before resuming her walk. “So, you’re coming or what?”

The kid scrambled to catch up, looking at her like she hung the moon, and Anko mentally kicked herself. Those blue eyes full of adoration were going to be her doom. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

“What’s your name, Nee-chan?” finally asked the kid, looking like he half-expected her to come to her senses and snap.

He called her _Nee-chan_. Holy fuck. She was doomed. Totally doomed. She resigned herself to be softened by that little fucker: “Mitarashi Anko. What’s your?”

She already knew it, but it was worth seeing the kid’s eyes shine with pure happiness at such a simple expression of interest for him: “Uzumaki Naruto! And one day, I’ll be Hokage!”

She snorted. She had seen crazier. “Not if you don’t know how to kick a guy in the nuts, kid. Come on, don’t dawdle.”

**oOoOoOo**

It went totally downhill from there.

First the kid started to hang out near her favorite training ground, not daring to come too close, but watching with hopeful eyes. So, well, she wasn’t going to let him laze when she could use a hand. So she yelled at him to get his ass here and to make himself useful. Then she discovered he was hopeless at throwing kunai. So she taught him. Of course. It just grazed on her nerves to see such a lame shinobi.

It became a regular occurrence. The kid –Naruto– told her about the Academy, Mizuki-sensei who barely acknowledged him and gave him bad marks, Sakura-chan who was pretty but totally stupid for The Bastard, and The Bastard himself. Anko taught him how to punch people, how to throw kunais and shurikens, then she realized he barely knew how to read and write. She wasn’t going to teach him, of course. Who did you think she was? But instead she told him she would buy him ramen if he wrote a page daily to talk about what he did each day. That kid would do anything for ramens.  
It worked perfectly. Naruto spent hours at it in the beginning, then it became faster and easier. Two month later he knew how to read clearly and write legibly… And Anko had no more money left, her whole salary gone into noodles. 

She regretted nothing.

It became usual to see Anko followed by that little blond shadow, who called her Nee-chan and thought that she was _so cool_ and _totally awesome_ and _the best kunoichi in the whole world_. It freaked out people during the first months. But they got used to it. Even if they weren’t, they quickly learned that it was better for their continued health to keep their opinions to themselves.

Naruto had nobody else, and he wasn’t a burden, so why the hell not? He didn’t cost a lot, because he had a monthly allowance to take care of himself (even if Anko had to taught him how handle money and save it). He didn’t take shit from other people, didn’t whine, loved to learn swear words, laughed at her jokes, and was eager to learn even the simplest thing. And he adored Anko. Literally. One time he even punched another kid from his class in the face because that guy had the audacity of saying that his brother was better than Anko Nee-chan. Anko had _no idea_ who to deal with the fact that a five years old was willing to beat a Uchiwa kid to defend her honor, so she just bought him dango.  
She was really beginning to like him. Fuck her life.

Obviously, Naruto met Ibiki one day, when the Head of Interrogation and Torture came to Anko’s place while the kid was sleeping on her couch (what? He was too tired yesterday because she made him practice taijutsu!). It went pretty well, considering.

Ibiki stared. Naruto stared. Then the kid turned towards Anko and asked if that guy was her boyfriend. Anko began to snigger hysterically. Ibiki opened his mouth to ask what the hell was going on, and Naruto pointed a threatening finger towards him, saying that if he ever hurt Anko Nee-chan, she was going to kick his ass, then _he_ was going to kick his ass, dattebayo, and then there wouldn’t remain enough of him to reconstitute a hamster, got it?  
Ibiki slowly turned toward Anko: “I would ask you to reconsider your life choices but I have a feeling that it’s already too late.”  
Anko snorted behind her coffee. Damn straight.

Naruto met Gai almost a year later, when he was about seven. Anko had maybe, _maybe_ , tried to postpone this encounter as long as possible. She was all for the flames of youth and all but come on, if he met Naruto they were going to burn down Konoha.  
They didn’t burn Konoha. Anko counted that as a win.  
But! Gai earned a new nickname (Bushy-brows-niichan), Naruto learned seven new taijutsu moves and immediately decided that he wanted to be a taijutsu master, they destroyed training ground number six (well, Gai did, Naruto just cheered from the side, but they insisted to share the credit), and they took part in a eating contest which made them both completely and incredibly sick.

Meh. It was worth it. Three adult were better than one.

For example, Anko never cared about Naruto’s grades at school. When Naruto complained about having a zero at a test, she usually just told him to stick it here the sun don’t shine. But Gai insisted to know why he was the last of his class. When he saw the number of tests where Naruto got zeros while having all the right answers, Gai took Ibiki with him and went to ask Mizuki-sensei a little explanation.  
Mizuki was fired. Naruto’s new teacher, Iruka, graded his papers more fairly and soon Naruto became an average student. He even was an excellent one when it came to taijutsu training.

Ibiki stubbornly resisted Naruto’s puppy eyes, but he gave in eventually. When Anko was on a mission and Gai was running backward around Konoha, the blond kid hang out around Ibiki’s favorite places, looking him with expectant eyes. Ibiki began to grudgingly acknowledge him, and when he realized he had attached himself to the little Uzumaki, it was too late. People were already used to Naruto trailing behind him, and the scary Jounins of his division were offering him sweets and a pat on the head when he bragged about his good marks.  
Naruto had gotten himself adopted by the Division of Torture and Interrogation. Anko was laughing her ass off.

On the contrary, Sandaime-sama wasn’t exactly _thrilled_. Danzo-sama even less so.

Naruto wasn’t happy alone, of course he wasn’t, but the disputable company that he kept maybe wasn’t the best alternative. What person was the Jinchuuriki going to become, with that kind of recomposed family? So of course, they tried to make it stop. Danzo-sama really insisted and Sandaime-sama finally gave in. He summoned the Jounins and gave them a stern talking-to.  
Ibiki remained completely stone-faced and said that it was entirely Gai’s fault and that he was just trying to do some damage-control. Anko said Naruto was free to go wherever he wanted and that unlike some people, she wasn’t going to throw rocks at him to make him leave (Sandaime-sama hastily changed the subject). Gai began to sob uncontrollably when it was suggested that he cease to see the little Uzumaki.

Sandaime-sama cheerfully told Danzo-sama that he tried, and went back to his usual occupations. 

And life went on.

At nine, Naruto was one of the top students of his class. He even has a best friend, Inuzuka Kiba. Anko was teaching them how to make orange exploding tags that covered people in glitter, much to Iruka-sensei’s despair. A little girl in the year above them, Tenten, soon joined their games. She was a civilians’ daughter, orphaned, but strong-willed and a good kunoichi. Hell, give her kunais and shurikens, and she was a true demon.  
A cute demon. With pigtails.

Anko immediately liked the girl. Naruto took it as a seal of approval and completely feel in love with Tenten. Ibiki found absolutely hilarious. With the subtlety of a spade hit in the face, Gai tried to set them up.

Of course Naruto swore to get revenge, and that’s when Kakashi got dragged into this.

Well, in fact it didn’t happen immediately. It took maybe two months of Gai following them around bawling about youthful love for them to snap. By then, Naruto was way past his crush and was plotting revenge with all the ingenuity his adult friends had taught him. Knowing that it included Ibiki, Gai should have been _worried_.  
So when Naruto, Tenten and Kiba saw Gai talking to Kakashi on the street, and because Naruto had been practically raised by Anko and she had a terrible influence, he took one look at the pair of them, gasped really loudly and yelled: “Bushy-brows-niichan! Is he your _boyfriend?!_ ”

That’s how Kakashi met Naruto.

Anko was absolutely gleeful to hear about this ‘new development’, of course, and she told this story to anyone who stayed long enough to hear it. Apparently it included Ibiki, then Ibiki’s friends (Shikaku promptly lost it, laughed so hard he had to sit, then ran to tell Inoichi and Choza), then _half Konoha_. Two months later, at Naruto’s next birthday party (because Naruto had birthday parties now, and how awesome was that?), Kakashi was invited ‘in regard to his relationship with Gai’, and the worse was that this information didn’t seem to shock anyone.  
Kakashi was going to kill Anko.

He did try to get back to her by stealing her dango, but then Naruto told everyone, with wet eyes and trembling lip, that he was cheating on Gai with Kurenai. So when Kakashi had to face a very pissed off Asuma, the Copy Ninja decided that maybe he was outmatched.

That kid was a menace. Even worse than Obito. In fact, it was like Obito and Anko secretly had a kid!  
… Ugh. Mental image.

**oOoOoOo**

At eleven, Naruto and Kiba threw a party at Tenten’s graduation. Gai was her sensei and she was a little worried (what kind of _insane_ training were they going to do?), but the enthusiasm of her friends made her forget her anxiety.  
They didn’t stop hanging out together, even after. During Tenten’s first trainings with her team, Naruto often popped from nowhere to join them, sometimes with Kiba or, even worse, Anko. Tenten was grateful for the mental support. She also found the constipated face of Neji to be absolutely hilarious.

(Naruto absolutely loved to poke fun at Neji. The little Uzumaki had a sharp tongue and was a sarcastic little shit now, thanks to prolonged exposure to Anko and Ibiki. People like that Hyuuga with a stick up their ass and no sense of humor had _no chance_ against him).

“Stop taunting my beloved student”, moaned Gai when Neji stomped angrily from the training ground after another invasion from the young Uzumaki.

Naruto just waved a hand: “Nah. It’s good for him. He’s too stuffy anyway.”

He looked very much like Anko, with his now long hair pulled in a hasty ponytail, a dango stick between his teeth, and a large grin on his face. Gai gave up: “At the very least, can you not criticize his hair?”

Naruto pensively taped his chin: “Well, if you insist Bushy-brows-niichan. I’ll criticize his shoes next time.”

“… You have the same shoes”, pointed Lee.

“I wear them better.”

That was the final straw for Tenten, who fell to the ground howling with laughter, while Lee tried to hide his snickers behind his hand. Gai didn’t roll his eyes only because he was a mature adult, and didn’t insist.  
Naruto wasn’t wrong. Neji worked way better now that he had a target for his inner anger. Keeping all that fury bottled up wasn’t doing him any good.

So, after being adopted by the Section of Torture and Interrogation, Naruto got himself adopted by Team Gai.

Yes, even Neji tolerated him after a while. Naruto was very persistent. It may also be because when he found out about the cursed seal during one of their fight, instead of anger or pity like Neji expected, Naruto’s face twisted in horror and recognition, before his eyes hardened. Then, with a dark grin and a promise in his eyes, he said that he was going to remove it one day. Just like every fucking cursed seal imposed by sadistic assholes on any ninjas of Konoha.  
His tone bore no contradiction.

Anger came later to Naruto, alone at night on another training ground, when he yelled and punched trees until his hands bled and his throat hurt. He was thinking of the three little marks on Anko’s neck, of the dark spiral on his own stomach, of that ugly green cross on Neji’s forehead. They were ninjas, they were not _slaves_ , they were not _monsters_. People didn’t have the right to do that to them. They deserved to be free. They deserved to be happy.  
They deserved better. All of them.

“I’ll change that!” he yelled at the sky. “When I’ll be Hokage, I’ll fucking change that!”

So in the end, Team Gai didn’t adopt Naruto as much as Naruto adopted Team Gai.

He was already friend with Gai and Tenten, but after that he became friend with Neji too, showing his his taijutsu moves and how to twist words in people mouths, or to hide anger behind an arrogant smile and a disdainful glare. Lee became Naruto’s rival, running laps around the village and yelling about flames of youth under Gai’s tearful gaze.  
Though, the poor sensei became less tearful and more flustered when Naruto began to teach his students the filthiest profanities he knew. You can’t live with Anko (because Naruto basically lived with her at that point) and not know the twenty best ways to tell people to stick something big somewhere embarrassing.

Ibiki found the whole thing very entertaining, and told this story to his friends. That’s how Gemma and Raido, then Kotetsu and Izumo began to pay attention to Anko’s little shadow. A kid teaching profanities to Gai’s students was bound to be interesting, after all! So they bought him dango, they found him cute and hilarious, and Gemma taught him how to spit a senbon to pin a fly to a wall.  
Naruto was delighted. New friends! _Four_ new friends! Who liked him and who were nice to Nee-chan and to Ibiki and to Bushy-brows-niichan! It was fantastic!

His eleventh year was the happiest of his life. He had a family, with Anko Nee-chan. He had friends, adult friends but also friends of his own age. Nobody called him a monster anymore, and he was good at the Academy, and he wasn’t hungry every week because a lot of people bought him food, and he had a home, and he was _loved_.  
It was so foreign: being loved. Not being alone.

But, you know, alone or not, Naruto was still Naruto. Yelling, kicking, clothed in orange from head to toes, brave and ferociously protective, wanting to be friend with everyone, and dreaming of being Hokage.  
So, the story didn’t change that much after all.

And at twelve, Naruto failed his Academy graduation.

It was because of his Kage Bunchin, that damn jutsu that he _hated_. He ran off that night, not wanting to see disappointment on Anko’s face, on anyone’s face. Mizuki-sensei (now a simple civilian) still found him, said that he was sincerely sorry about these bad grades at the Academy, and sweetly suggested to steal the parchment of a forbidden jutsu.

(In another universe, only Iruka would go after Naruto. Mizuki would badly injure him, and would taunt Naruto about the fact that nobody loved him. This is not this universe. In this universe, Naruto isn’t alone. He will never be.)

Anko found them first, just when Mizuki was mocking Naruto about his status as a Jinchuuriki. She wiped the floor with that jerk, before yelling at Naruto for having her worried, and hugging him so hard that she nearly broke his ribs. When he asked with tears in his voice if she didn’t care that he was the demon-fox, she just shrugged.

“Who care? You’re my brother, dumbass. That demon-fox can go fuck itself. I saw you first.”

And if that made Naruto cry a little, well, she wasn’t going to tell anyone.

Ibiki made Mizuki confess everything within the next twelve minutes and insisted that Naruto would be considered a hero for trying to stop the traitor. Gai dragged everyone to the Hokage to explain the whole story. Anko bought dango to celebrate the event. Kotetsu and Izumo fussed over the kid the whole night, worried that he had been hurt.

The next day, Naruto was assigned to Kakashi-sensei. He met the team 7, with Sasuke-bastard and Sakura-chan. And it went… Pretty well.

Naruto wasn’t the last of the class this time. He was average, pretty good. He also had an insane level in taijutsu for a Genin, which left Sakura absolutely gobsmacked and Sasuke grudgingly impressed.  
Naruto was still loud and mouthy and dressed in orange, but he yelled less about his dream of being Hokage. Why would he? Anko Nee-chan knew, and Ibiki and Bushy-brows-niichan knew, and Raido, and Genma, and Kotetsu and Izumo. They all knew and they didn’t make fun of him. They people who mattered to him knew, and that was the most important. He didn’t need to broadcast his ambitions. He just had to do it.

And he was going to do it. Like he did in every universe.

**oOoOoOo**

Some things don’t change. Call it fate. But little details, the details that matter, they can all be shaken by just a minor change.

Naruto’s team ran after cats, completed D-rank missions and yelled after Kakashi when he was late, but this time around, Naruto came home each night to a brightly lit apartment where Anko was doing katas or polishing kunai. 

His team fought Zabuza. But this time, when they came back, several Chuunins and Jounin went to yell at the Hokage who let three _kids_ fight again an S-rank nukenin. This time, Anko talked with Naruto about what it meant to be a ninja, what it meant to kill, what it meant to make sacrifices.

The Chuunin exam came. This time, Naruto cheated his way like a pro through the first test (Ibiki was extremely proud), but the other tests went pretty much the same. Anko was busy, after all, so Naruto was on his own.

He fought Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. But this time, he recognized him. What, did you expected him to live with Anko and not dig in _every bit of information_ he could access about her former sensei, the one who left her and _hurt her_? Come on. We’re talking about Naruto. A Naruto raised by Anko, Gai, and Ibiki. If somebody had ever hurt his Nee-chan, even in a distant past, Naruto was going to collect intel on that asshole and dig his grave.  
Naruto knew all about Konoha’s enemies, thanks to the scary Jounins of the Division of Torture and Interrogations. They gave sweets, a pat on the head when he had good marks, and classified information if he asked nicely. Really, that wasn’t hard. Naruto knew all about Akatsuki, chaos in Kiri, rising threat in Oto, and he knew all about Orochimaru the traitor.

Orochimaru knew nothing about Naruto, and he was very surprised when a four feet tall kid began to try to fucking _murder_ him. He was just here for the Uchiwa, he certainly didn’t expect a blond tornado of killing intent and completely unpredictable attacks. That kid was fucking fast. And mean. And apparently completely insane and very determined to hamper his brilliant plan to taunt little Sasuke. Orochimaru barely _saw_ Sasuke before taking a foot in the face, by the way. Then he became very occupied to stop the homicidal Genin from gutting him, dismember him, crushing him under a tree, burry him in a trap, of burn him alive with a Katon. The kid even tried to poison him! With a _snake_!

Orochimaru left the forest worse for ear and completely bewildered, while Naruto stomped his way to the end of the test exuding murder by every pore of his skin, swearing that next time he was going to hang that asshole snake-face with his own intestines. 

It was probably a good thing that his teammates were out cold (he was carrying them effortlessly, thanks to Gai’s training), because the homicidal mutterings of Naruto wouldn’t have reassured them _at all_.

That Naruto had no compulsion about murder. And he certainly had a sadistic streak, thanks to his Nee-chan. Orochimaru really should have looked into Anko’s new little brother before venturing in that damn forest…

But still. Some things don’t change.

Naruto still met Jiraya and learned the Rasengan. He still fought against Neji and won, swearing to be Hokage and to put an end to the Cursed Seals of the Hyuuga. Konoha was still attacked by Suna, and Naruto still befriended Gaara… After repeatedly punching him in the face.  
The Sandaime Hokage still died. Naruto still cried. Jiraya still took him when he went find Tsunade, and Naruto still yelled at her for not wanting to be Hokage.

But this time, when the Shodaime’s grand-daughter looked at him, she didn’t only saw Dan and Nawaki’s ghosts. Under the yelling and the smiling and the bright blue eyes, she saw a flicker of Orochimaru’s harshness. Loneliness and pain and coldness, buried deep in the soul of this kid with Nawaki’s dream and Minato’s smile.  
Tsunade couldn’t save Dan, Nawaki, Minato Kushina or even Orochimaru (gone, as gone as the others). But this kid? This kid she could protect. This kid she would watch. If he had Orochimaru’s realism to protect him, and the Will of Fire keeping him loyal to his dream, then he would not die easily.  
Orochimaru had always been a damn survivor.

So, Naruto was still Naruto. Loud, orange, kind of dumb when it came to girls, terribly stubborn. But he was much more pragmatist Naruto, who still jumped in a fight head first, but with always a dozen of trick up his sleeve, invectives sharper than a knife, a bright laugh that turned sinister in battle, and really mean snakes summons.

When the three Sannins fought in this secluded town where Jiraya had found Tsunade, this time Orochimaru tried to persuade Naruto to rejoin him. Obviously, Jiraya almost fell down, utterly astonished.  
Tsunade wasn’t shocked. For a second, she was even worried that Naruto said yes. Orochimaru could bring the kid power after all. But more importantly, he could understand his loneliness, the loneliness of a freak…

But of course Naruto didn’t accept. He roared with fury, yelling incoherently about Anko and curse marks and creeper invading forest and fucking asshole _murdering his Hokage_ , because he was still Naruto and he wore his heart on his sleeve. He attacked Orochimaru, killing intent on his face, and angry red chakra bubbling so close to the surface (but never taking control, because if Anko Nee-chan could control her curse, then so he could). He attacked like wildcat or a snake, with bared teeth and hissed insult or roared threats, hatred burning in his eyes and raw power in his fists.

Orochimaru still escaped, but damn, he was really, really impressed. And a little freaked out.  
Better watch out for the homicidal blond tornado.

Naruto was a good fighter, better than in another world where he would have grown up alone. But he was still a kid. He wasn’t even five feet tall: his advantage was his mind. He wasn’t just a little spark of hope, nearly crushed by the villagers’ disdain and hatred. He was a fire, he was wild and blazing and burning and he could light up the future as well as burn you to the ground if you dared to cross him.  
Naruto grew up fiercer and more cynical. But after all, does it matter? He also grew up with a family. He grew up so much happier.

Still. There are things that never change. Sakura cried and chased after Sasuke and was angry at herself for being the weakest of the team. Shikamaru laughed at Naruto’s jokes and loved his repartee, but he still lazed around and watched clouds more than he trained. Neji was less bitter and less sullen, but he was still proud and lonely. Hinata, shy and stammering, went unnoticed. Kiba chased cats with Akamaru, and was probably the most carefree of their whole promotion. Kakashi arrived late to his meetings, read porn, and passed way too much time at the Memorial.

And Sasuke… Sasuke was still lonely and bitter, happy to be Naruto’s best friend but angry to be only the second best after him, and terrified to be left behind. In this world, Naruto had a home and a family, but Sasuke was still coming home to an empty house, and was still waking up with trembling hands and a scream in his throat, making nightmares about his brother and the massacre.  
In this world, Sasuke’s life was probably worse. He wasn’t Naruto’s world after all. Naruto had others people. Sasuke didn’t. And he drowned, day after days, in darkness and anger. When Orochimaru reached to him with promises of power and poisoned words, he listened.

Some things don’t change. So Sasuke left.

This time, Naruto couldn’t get him back either. Anko sat in his hospital room and yelled at nurses and tried to make him laugh, but still. In this world too, Naruto stared into space and blamed himself for not stopping his friend.

Some things don’t change. 

Naruto still went to train under Jiraya. He almost didn’t. But he couldn’t let Sasuke down, because Sasuke was going to Orochimaru, and when Naruto thought about Orochimaru he always thought about the three spots in Anko’s neck and her haunted eyes when she touched her cursed mark. He had to go, because he had to become stronger.  
After all, if he couldn’t save Sasuke, how could he become Hokage? How could he protect Konoha, save Neji and help all his friends, if he couldn’t save one person?

So Naruto left. But this time, he made long and tearful farewells to a lot of people. There was Anko Nee-chan, and Ibiki, and Gai (dear God, Gai cried so much), and Raido, and Gemma, and Kotetsu and Izumo, and ton and ton of people who came to see him one last time, to tell him goodbye, to say they’ll miss him.

Anko hugged him, and stayed at his shoulder until the last moment, sending murderous glare to everyone to hide the fact that she was near tears. Even at the gates, she didn’t leave his side when his best friend came to see him go. Naruto didn’t mention it (Anko Nee-chan hated to talk about feelings) but he was stupidly grateful.

“Be safe”, awkwardly said Kakashi, half-hidden behind a book, patting Gai’s back and letting the green-clad Jounin cry on his shoulder.

Naruto smiled bright teeth, the wing twisting his wild ponytail, looking very much like Minato. “When am I not?”

“ I’ll not answer that”, grumbled Sakura.

(This time, Sakura asked Tsunade to mentor her much earlier. Naruto mayyy have suggested it as soon as they came home. In case, you know. He faced Orochimaru again and needed a hand. Also, Tsunade was freakishly strong, and that was perfect for Sakura who desperately wanted to cease to be weak). 

“Have fun”, smiled Tenten while swallowing back tears. “I will annoy Neji for you. But I don’t have your imagination.”

“I’ll help!” volunteered Kiba. “You’re gonna regret missing that, moron. I have ton of orange glitter to use.”

Neji squeaked a protest, but was quickly shut down by Ibiki’s shadow looming over him. He turned his head and focused himself on Lee who was sobbing on his shoulder. Poor Lee was devastated, and Neji had no idea how to handle this.

Anko sniffed very loudly, seeming more murderous than ever. She swallowed one, twice, tried to not cry because if she busted into tears she could kiss her badass reputation goodbye, and muttered with a rough voice: “Come home soon.”

Naruto smiled. She looked at him and all she could see was this five years old kid she saved from jerks, this kid who looked at her like she hung the moon and the stars, this kid who called her _Nee-chan_ and punched kids to defend her honor, who ate ramens for four and laughed with pure happiness just from being around her. And Naruto was almost thirteen now, eight years had passed since that day, but when he smiled at her, he still was that little boy she decided to protect.

“I swear I will, Nee-chan.”

Some things don’t change. Naruto still left.

But the crowd of people watching him go, waving and crying and trying to smile? _That changed_. Tenten’s tears and Kiba’s weak jokes, Neji’s silence, Gai’s and Lee’s sobs, Kakashi’s resignation, Sakura’s sadness, Ibiki’s stone face, Anko’s breaking heart… It changed. In this world, Naruto had them. He wasn’t alone, and he knew it. He was loved. And when he would come home, they’ll be waiting for him.

And it changed everything.


End file.
